Don't spurn the milk churn: full fat dairy could protect your heart

Higher intake of milk and yoghurt - above one serving per day - was associated with lower rates of the composite outcome, which combines total mortality and cardiovascular disease, compared to no consumption. "Our study is an observational study and we report association between exposure and outcome we can not prove any causality", emphasized Dehghan.

She says that if eating around 2-3 servings a day, you should opt for non-flavoured dairy foods as these are the healthier option. You can eat it, and there are beneficial effects. "Moderation is the message of our study".

The last few years have seen the rise of the anti-dairy health fad, with advocates saying whole milk and other dairy products - high in saturated fat - raise LDL cholesterol, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. These participants were followed up for a period of 9 years.

One standard serving of dairy included a glass of milk at 244 grams, a cup of yogurt at 244g, one slice of cheese at 15g or a teaspoon of butter at 5g. Butter consumption was low in the study and not associated with any clinical outcomes. There also became as soon as now not noteworthy files for folks spirited larger than three servings of dairy per day, that plot it wasn't that possibilities are you'll nearly definitely have confidence to bellow how very heavy consumption impacts successfully being.

Participants were divided into four groups - no dairy, less than 1 serving per day, 1-2 servings per day and more than 2 servings per day. Yet, they note "it is not the ultimate seal of approval for recommending whole-fat dairy over its low-fat or skimmed counterparts". A new large study however, has now shown that full-fat dairy and dairy products may be more beneficial for the heart.

People who ate three portions of full-fat milk, butter, cheese or yoghurt were a quarter less likely to succumb to an early death, compared with those who ate less than half a serving a day.

She said that people have been focussing on low-fat dairy "predominantly based on the assumption that saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol".

"This exclusively focuses on one single macronutrient-saturated fat-and a single risk factor, which is LDL cholesterol", said Dehghan.

But in doing so, they are missing out on other important nutrients that dairy provides, such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals, she added.

These results do not go in line with most dietary advice, which urges people to cut down on fatty foods, particularly red meat and dairy products.

In an editorial, however, Jimmy Chun Yu Louie, PhD (University of Hong Kong, China), and Anna Rangan, PhD (University of Sydney, Australia), argue there is not enough evidence to change the dietary guidelines with respect to dairy.

The researchers who conducted the latest study concluded that the consumption of dairy should not be discouraged - and should even perhaps be encouraged in low-income and middle-income countries where dairy consumption is low.

Dehghan pointed out that individuals in some countries-Sweden, for example-already consume plenty of dairy and said they are not encouraging people from these countries to eat more yogurt, milk, or cheese. "Three servings is moderate consumption, and moderate consumption is beneficial". "Therefore, when you're focusing on low-fat dairy, we're scaring people about the harms".

A new research challenges the widely held belief that those who consume less full fat are at higher risk of heart disease. But now a new study is calling that link into question. While multiple weighted food records may be more accurate, they require extensive training, motivation, awareness and literacy which limits the practicality for such a large long-term study.